My blog hasn’t actually lived here since the fall of 2007 but I can still be found, blogging away 2.5 years later, at www.crafterbynight.com, on the self-hosted version of this site.

I am going to leave this version up, it’s amusing to me to see my first early months of blogging, and my early theme, and the trials and tribulations I encountered in those first 5 months.

–Miriam

Allow me to state for the record that I am a huge supporter of handmade, crafters, independent artists and designers.  I encourage everyone to support these people with their funds and encouragement so they can thrive in their chosen professions, and to encourage everyone else they know to do what they can to support indie as well.  If you need any help with this, I offer my Index of Indie, where I have gathered all sorts of sources, and which I continue to add to.

I do have things to post – my husband and I have made and decorated the very awesome 3-D cookies from Williams-Sonoma, and I did some decorating I was going to share.  However, I believe I’m going to take a hiatus from blogging instead, and come back when I’ve had a chance to think – I’m an introvert, after all.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with something I just found at the Craftzine and I strongly encourage you to participate as well. It’s the Buy Handmade Pledge for the Holiday season.

Go to BuyHandmade.org and sign the petition. You pledge to buy handmade for the holiday season, and to encourage others to do the same for you. After all there’s nothing as good as handmade, is there!?

Stephanie’s personality makes certain things necessary. She needs to be able to wash  & wear this easily. Wool will not work. Also, she wears her stuff until she wears it out – so it has to be long-wearing. She doesn’t approve of a great deal of expense, either (actually, one of her favorite things is “sweet deals”). So it needs to be cheap. And she likes pretty stuff (who doesn’t?) and natural stuff, so we’re going to be approximating pretty wools.

The right yarn appears to be Lion Brand Jiffy. Mohair-look means soft and fuzzy. Acrylic means wash n’ wear and hopefully long-wearing. It’s pretty. And mostly, I really like the colors. This one’s going to be primarily caffe (soft brown) and avocado (bright green) with accents of apple green (essentially a lighter shade of avocado), denim and chili. They’re natural-looking colors, rich but still soft. I’m using a large gauge hook (K) to make it fluffy and because I need to weave it.  Why?

Here’s the kicker: it also needs to be plaid.

So I needed inspiration and looked about, and I found the following useful.  There’s the plaid baby blanket and the felted windowpane purse (the green/brown one) from Lion Brand. Or the afghan plaid crochet (top blue one) on eBay. There’s a Christmasy plaid scarf over at Michaels that has promise. Yarn market sells a kit for a plaid felted bag (the burgundy weaving) that I’d like to buy when I have time for a new project next millenium. An event plaid from the DIY network (the orangey pillow). I may have to purchase this book of tartan plaid crochet blankets. And a lovely pattern for a fringed plaid blanket (the bottom blue one) at Fairy Threads. And finally, because the plaid is really well done and actually really plaid-ish, the lovely green plaid toilet tissue holder. I shall work with these and see what I come up with.

1)  One is a swap – the Stamping Out Alzheimer’s Charity Fat Book Swap (via).

2) A news item – Quilters’ handiwork speaks volumes to soldiers hurt in Iraq.

3) A fundraiser – Fiberart for the American Cancer Society by Virginia Spiegel (her stuff, by the way, is amazing.  You should really take a look).

Do you know what I think the best thing about charity and crafting is?  Crafting is something people generally do because it brings joy to their lives (for example, this woman for whom quilting is a source of joy).  And in many cases, it seems like crafts bring joy to people to whom they are given.  The fit seems , natural – joy in making and joy in receiving.

I’m always particularly struck by how many times I see quilting and knitting referenced in regard to charity. I think this is because quilts and knitted items are very comforting by their very nature.  By giving a quilt or knitted item, you are giving comfort by virtue of the materials, or the warmth it provides, or the knowledge of the care and work that went into it, and often the beauty of the item.

Makes me want to crochet something for everyone, thinking about it that way.  ‘Scuse, have to get back to work on those scarves and afghans for Christmas now!  

Mabel made me my first quilt, which I will show you all sometime. Should I have children, that quilt and its matching pillow is my daughter’s. Mabel also made awesome apple turnovers, the like of which I’ve never had again. She provided our house with various jellies and jams for all the years I was growing up in that house. She used to go to Louisiana to visit her family and pick mayhaws and come back and make ‘em into jelly. Mmmmm. She also had a big garden and taught me how to garden as well. I had a postage-sized plot out back that gave me great joy. She canned a lot of vegetables- she is the reason I adore pickled okra today.

One of the major things that Mabel did was make ceramics. She was not a wheel potter, she was a ceramicist; she used molds. She had hundreds of molds on shelves in the garage, all tied up or wrapped with giant rubber bands.  She had a big, deep kiln by the door to the kitchen, so deep that my small self couldn’t reach the bottom. She made me various things over the years, and I have 2 of them – a little turtle to put plants in, and a black witch hat. I also have a very pathetic vase she made with me – it’s the paint job that’s mostly pathetic. Mabel was an excellent painter – her colors were even and her finishes glossy. My witch hat isn’t very complicated, but some of the paint jobs she did were really intricate.

Hope you enjoy the little show that my kitten Callie put on with the hat that Mabel made me. Although I don’t know what happened to Mabel after she moved away, I always feel big warm fuzzies for her whenever I get out her handicrafts and remember the things she taught me to love.

I was not sure what to expect when I went, but let me just tell you that I have never seen such a collection of involved and amazing stuff in one place. The Faire is HUGE, first of all. Ten booths just for the Robot Group here in Austin. A whole floor of electronic geekery, a field of organic foods, a store of kits and books, a barn full of DIY. I was worn out well before it was finished.

So, what was there? Modded computers, animatronic animals, air & water pianos, robot spin art, mechanical flowers that open up, a kick ass beer brewing setup, mini transistors to make, crazily articulated models, dimming 3-color LED lights – oh, and Instructables was there …

Organics: lots of tea, brownies, vegetables from multiple places, honey, goat cheese

Art cars, make-your-own buttons, carnival rides, demonstrations on several stages, Tesla coils, Jacob’s ladder, mechanical wood carvers (at least 3 kinds), Darth Vader Legos, Tinker Toys
(deep breath)

Sewing demonstrations, a truckload of yarn to try out, a big ol’ clothing swap & fashion show made of re-made clothes, spinning and weaving demonstrations, and various kids of machines that screamed and wailed when you touched them.

And dude, they had those guys with the Mentos and the Diet Coke – the Eepy Bird guys. And did I mention the rockets?

Seeing all the Austin people represented was very nice, although clearly there were a lot of out-of-towners as well. Very inspiring to go to, very obvious that a large part of Austin certainly doesn’t go home after work and crash in front of the TV.

So tired now. Will do show and tell later.

Margaux’s Craft Experience

Reply to Margaux

I was really sorry to hear about Margaux’s experience at the Crafty Bastards fair in DC. As a regular Barbie-defacer when I was young, I am quite taken with Margaux’s work and the statements she makes with it. I really wish she made something with Barbie hair, as that was my favorite aspect to deface.

I am really disappointed in the show attendees.  I am a former DC resident, and although it’s not probably the artsiest place around, it’s not a void, either, so why the unfriendlies?  Plus,I’m sure the show attracted plenty of non-residents as well.  So why so many people who came to a craft fair and made stupid, insensitive comments.  Were they not expecting artisans?  And for pete’s sake – the artist is right there and you’re being rude about her art to her face?  Hello basic politeness?  Plus, what’s up with people telling an artist what she “should” and “should not” be creative about?  I think Margaux (and the other artists who put up with this crap) had tremendous restraint.

I have quite a few more thoughts about all this, and hey! I have a blog, so I can sit down and tell all of you all about them. If you want to read (and I am somewhat garrulous), then the rest is after the jump.

1. Margaux’s Barbie-inspired jewelry pieces are exactly the kind of thing that keeps bringing me to craft fairs and markets. I enjoy looking for one-of-a-kind artisan pieces that are created with thought and craftsmanship behind them. I look for the things that took effort and time to create, and are quality items. I enjoy being able to find things that no one else will have (or maybe limited editions ). I love the ones that make statements, and the purely purposeless and decorative things, too. What I like is that someone took the time to make it – an actual person, a body, not a machine.  There’s something about handmade that’s different.

2. That said, I’m often disappointed at markets and fairs. It often seems as though craft fairs are being overtaken by resellers of cheap crap – no different than the stuff in box stores. It just looks kinda different because it’s on a fair table. But it’s still cheap stuff – in price and quality. And boy do people flock to it! Good lord, the women I see clustered like hens around cheap, uninspired jewelry!

And of course this is Tejas, so they’re often clustered around the most goddawful, trashy, flashy, bright, shiny, cheap, HUGE trinkets. And by the word “trinket” I mean to remind you of the sound of a long painted nail tapping on cheap painted tin while the woman decides whether to part with her $10. Makes me think of the quintessential tacky white Cadillacs with longhorn hood decorations. Argh.

3. Both of the above are why I go almost exclusively to JURIED fairs. You know, where a panel of people has selected the fair entries. Not just everyone can participate ’cause they have an entry fee. The work is reviewed at these, at least a little.

4. I do hope that not everyone who makes art-craft pieces stops participating in markets, although I can see why you’d think it’s pointless. It’s not only the purchasing that makes fairs valuable – it’s also marketing and publicity.  I believe many people who commented on Margaux’s post noted that they don’t necessarily buy there, they just scope out what they like. So definitely – have biz cards!  Flyers!

I became interested in much of the crafting I do today through looking at pieces at fairs and markets. Seeing what others are capable of is incredibly inspiring. I have been doing the fair-and-consignment-store thing for longer than there’s been a working Web, and I like the personal contact with both the artisans and with the items that the internet doesn’t provide. Meeting the makers is truly wonderful. Although I love the internets, it’s just not the same.

5. I have to say that it was only by doing some of it myself that I began to have an appreciation for what it takes to create these things. Looking around didn’t do it, and I imagine that I have been disrespectful. I apologize to all those whose art/craft I may not have properly appreciated.  AndI know – because I have aspirations of being one of these persons at the fairs should I ever get the nerve – that I still don’t really appreciate what it takes to be a one-woman portable sales show, or what it takes to stand there for 2 days listening to comments about your art.  Whew!  Daunting!  Scary!

But in terms of craftsmanship:  I – and so many others – are very used to mass-produced, machine-made items. You purchase your items for dirt cheap at your local department/big box store and that’s it. You’re able to buy multiple, throwaway pieces of jewelry, clothing, or art because they’re cheap enough that you can discard them without too much grief.  And they won’t last long, anyway – and they’re just this season’s fad so it doesn’t matter, right?  With this sort of consumer culture, why would any of us appreciate the hard work of an artisan piece? What in our often commercialized, consumer-oriented backgrounds would prepare us for such an appreciation? Nada.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t appreciate them.

6. I have put a lot of thought into what makes something Art vs. Craft. I certainly won’t be solving that issue in three lines or less. What I do have to say is that I think that the “line” between them is fuzzy, if it exists at all. Maybe more of a continuum.

For me, I studied so-called medieval “crafts” in graduate school – specifically 8th-10th c. Carolingian and insular illuminated manuscripts (think Book of Kells). Book illumination in those days was considered a craft. As if a page of incredibly precise calligraphy and illumination is less than art. But truly, when the pages were created it was indeed considered only a craft and certainly lesser than art. Today, pages of illuminated manuscripts (and I wish people would stop ripping apart manuscripts for the illuminations – bad people!) are collectible, valuable art pieces.  It mostly goes to show that art and craft are ways of organizing our thoughts about certain items. The definitions change over time with our own perceptions of beauty and utility and skill.

I get the idea a lot of the time that people perceive craft to be “lesser” than art somehow. I think assigning a value judgment is silly and a waste of time for pretentious people. So where’s that fuzzy line? Well, I think that not all crafts are art and not all art is craft. Sometimes they overlap. Crafts to me must be made by hand. A craft is, to me, a skill, which one can have to varying degrees. Art is neither necessarily handmade nor skilled – but it can be.

On the other hand, I don’t think crafting is necessarily always a creative effort, while art does seem to have that characteristic. Sometimes I absolutely craft by rote and pattern – it’s not art, but it is skill-building crafting. BUT – that skill at crafting is what permits me to be creative with it, because without the technical ability I would be quite stuck. I think, truly, that the best examples are both art AND craft. Creative, skilled, made with care, fabricated under close supervision – mostly by hand.

So there’s just a few thoughts.  What an interesting discussion.  I absolutely should’ve broken this up into multiple posts.

So I’ve pretty much finished the bear I saw here according to the pattern here.  However, I need a bit of felt to finish off the face so the bear has no smile yet.   But – I’ve mostly finished my first amigurumi project!  It was a giant pain!  I can’t believe how much of a pain it was to get the legs attached!  Holy cow I have to write to people who do amigurumi projects a lot and ask how they manage those tiny little things.  I do like the green accents I put in. The eyes kinda look like they’re glowing right now.

The bear on the right is the unstuffed version that’s still in pieces.  Perhaps that gives you some idea of why I thought it was hard to put together.

And now, I leave you with a gratuitous kitten picture.  Having a new kitten is incredibly addictive.  Callie is stalking my foot here.  Very intent.

OK – to the crafting!  So, I have not been to Craftster enough.  However, I am beginning to solve that problem.  One of my most recent discoveries is the forum for Charity.   There are all sorts of fun ideas there and possibilities for charity, some of which I’ve posted before like Afghans for Afghans, and some of which I’d never even thought of before like soft cloth for ferrets.

I saw several people consider on the forum consider ideas for running an Etsy shop with donated items.  The sale of donated items would benefit charity.  I think this seems like a stunningly good idea, and something I might yet do myself one day.  Some people are already doing this:

• Items for Autism/Aspergers Awareness from Crystal Flipz designs.
• Jek in the Box is offering purple items for October, which is Lupus Awareness Month (that’s one of the items – a cozie for glasses/ipod/etc there on the right).
• There are a bunch of people offering items for Breast Cancer Awareness, which is also in October.

I’m thinking of doing monthly giveaways for various awarenesses.  Pretty much every month is some sort of awareness month for something.  What I give away would be something that benefits charity by its purpose – like the items from Jek in the Box.  I don’t know – it’s just a  half-baked idea.  Anyone like it?  Anyone have any more ideas about it?  Suggestions?
Speaking of giveaways, have you heard about Moby Gratis?  Moby’s put up 65+ songs on his website that are free to download for noncommercial or non-profit films/shorts/videos.  Pretty awesome.  Anyway, if you have a need – what a great resource!